On Saturday 28th November, the Warwickshire Junior County Team traveled to Draycott Table Tennis Centre, to begin their 2015-16 County Championships campaign in Division 1A. The five players representing Warwickshire were Timmy Cooper, Lee Dorning, Sam Weaving, Lisa Rinnhofer and Olivia Fletcher.

Warwickshire v Norfolk:

The first match took place against Norfolk, who sadly could only field one junior girl, giving the Warwickshire team a guaranteed two sets. However, Warwickshire dominated several other matches, with both Timmy Cooper and Lee Dorning beating Louis Moyes; a top England under 13 player. Timmy also beat Jacob Goss 3-1, whilst Lee beat his twin brother Joseph 3-2. Lisa and Olivia both comfortably beat Georgina Sunter 3-0. An exciting finale to the match was a battle between Sam Weaving (who was making his debut representing the county) and Jacob Goss. At one point Sam was 0-2 down, but battled back with more aggressive play, winning 14-12 in the fifth set.

Final score: Warwickshire 9 – Norfolk 1.

Staffordshire v Warwickshire:

The second match against Staffordshire was an equally successful match for the Warwickshire Bears. The trio of Timmy, Lee and Sam won six of the junior boys’ games (against Lewis Action Jack Wood and Luke Gittins), for the loss of just one end. Lisa beat Morgan Sykes 3-1, and only lost 1-3 to Lauren Evans. Olivia also lost to Lauren, however, battled back from 0-2 down to beat Morgan 11-7 in the fifth set.

Final score: Staffordshire 2 – Warwickshire 8.

Warwickshire v Derbyshire:

The final match of day one was against Derbyshire. After some confusion from the local team, they could only field two boys. With a slight alteration to the playing order, the two girls played first. Lisa started well beating Charlotte Henry 3-1; Olivia beat Lauren Twirlwell by the same score line. Lee then played Lucas King, and found himself 0-2 down. With a little advice from acting Captain Kate Hughes, he fought back winning 11-3 in the 5th set. Timmy added a 3-0 win against Jack Finney. The girls changed over, and another comfortable win for Olivia 3-0 against Charlotte. Lisa on the other hand, had to battle in a close topsy-turvy match. 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2; finally winning 12-10 in the fifth set. Well done to Matt Outhwaite for being excellent support in Lisa’s corner. The final two boys matches, were also five setters. Timmy winning 11-9 in the fifth against Lucas King. Sam had a close battle, eventually winning 11-8 in the fifth, after a ‘time out’ at 5-7 down was called by Kate. The result was a great team effort from all players, and a very successful match, winning all 4 sets that went to the final deciding end.

Final score: Warwickshire 10 – Derbyshire 0

Finally, I would like to say thank you to Matt Outhwaite for helping coach throughout the day; Inky Moss for umpiring all day, and to the parents for their continued support.

Warwickshire have three remaining matches left against Hertfordshire and two Yorkshire teams, which are due to be played in March 2016.